When deployed in the field, soldiers are often faced with situations where a means of sustained firepower is desirable to deal with a specific threat on the battlefield. The traditional means of such firepower is a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). A SAW is a dedicated belt-fed gun which is configured to fire in a fully automatic mode for a prolonged length of time. A combat unit's source of sustained firepower is a key consideration when making strategic choices about how to best defend a position or otherwise maneuver.
However, a particular combat unit may not even have a SAW assigned to it. Or, when a unit has been assigned a SAW, the soldiers operating it may not be able to utilize the weapon effectively. A typical reason why the SAW has limited effectiveness is because the cartridge belts used to feed the SAW are distributed among several members of the unit, and those unit members can become separated from the SAW's operators. When the SAW's effectiveness is limited, the unit must rely on the automatic and semi-automatic magazine-fed firearms carried by individual members of the squad in order to maneuver. The lack of sustained firepower limits the unit's effectiveness in the field and jeopardizes the lives of soldiers.
There are several other reasons why a combat unit may be unable to properly utilize its SAW. First, the SAW's weight, size, and the number of personnel it may require for operation create problems. These characteristics of the SAW make adjusting a defensive perimeter in response to changing situations difficult. Overall, the SAW's unwieldiness limits its strategic use in response to the large variation in circumstances encountered on the battlefield. For example, if three soldiers are carrying ammunition for the SAW and they come under hostile fire, it is common for them to have to throw ammunition to the soldier operating the SAW while avoiding being shot by the enemy. If the ammunition does not make it to those operating the SAW, the SAW may quickly run out, leaving the soldiers to rely on their rifles or other light firearms.
Second, it is not uncommon for an enemy to target the SAW in an initial attack. A sniper, for example, appreciates that the SAW can cause considerable damage to his or her fellow soldiers. Thus, the soldier holding the SAW will often be the initial target of the sniper, hoping to deprive the unit of its automatic firearm, and its suppressive fire capabilities, when hostilities begin. If that soldier is hit, the squad is placed at a significant disadvantage in an ensuing fire-fight, especially if other soldiers are under fire and cannot make it to the SAW.
Other factors that limit the SAW's use are: its complexity and need for special training to use; ammunition is often distributed throughout the unit and therefore unavailable when individual unit members become separated; and a stationary firearm requires a more defined position. In the absence of a source of sustained firepower, such as a SAW, the combat unit must rely on the semi-automatic and fully automatic firearm carried by the individual members of the unit when planning strategic maneuvering on the battlefield. Additionally, the SAW is generally heavier and more difficult to maneuver, and includes a spare barrel and ammunition above the amount carried by a rifleman.
The automatic or semi-automatic firearms carried by the individual soldiers are fed by magazines that typically hold 20-30 rounds of ammunition. If the firearm is a full automatic, the firearm will often be able to empty the entire magazine within a matter of a few seconds. Thus, a soldier may attempt to move from cover and fire only to find out that the magazine has just run out of ammunition, or runs out while the soldier is still moving.
To limit such situations, some automatic firearms will have a “burst” mode, wherein the firearm will shoot a number of bullets, typically three, with each pull of the trigger. However, in a fire-fight, burst mode may be inadequate to deal with the situation. Rather, a soldier may wish to be able to use a firearm in a full automatic mode for more than three or four seconds at a time. A firearm which is capable of firing 400 rounds per minute is significantly less effective than it could be if the user must change the magazine 12-15 times to fire that many rounds.
To overcome the problem of a continuous need to change magazines, a SAW is belt-fed. A belt may hold many times as many rounds as a magazine and belts often can be attached to one another to provide a virtually endless supply of ammunition. Most firearms carried by the other members of the squad, however, are designed to operate using magazines and will not accept belt-fed ammunition.
Thus there is needed a means for providing a combat unit with sustained firepower which allows the unit to immediately and effectively respond to the constantly changing situations on a battlefield. More specifically, there is a need for a system for the rapid conversion of a magazine-fed firearm into a belt-fed firearm.